


cAddress 



OF 



Michael J. Ryan, Esq. 



<zAt the Commemoration of the 
One Hundredth ^Anniversary of 
the Death of Commodore Jofyn 
Barry, Father of ti>e American 

Navy . . . . '.' . . . . 



W 



UNDER THE A US PICES . 
OF THE 

Knights of Columbus 



TDeliveied at the Giand Opera House 
Btoad and Montgomery Avenue . . . 
On Sunday, September 13, igo3 




COMPLIMENTS OF., 



Philadelphia Chapter 

Knights of Columbus 



PHILADELPHIA, PA. 







MICHAEL J. RYAN 




i 



Eni a • 'i b\ • V\ ci?ht fi i n *n i > nv mal ! ii 



ADDRESS 

OF 

Michael J. Ryan, Esq. 



Jit the Commemoration 
of the One Hundredth 
Anniversary of the 
Death of Commodore 
Barry, Father of the 
American J\[avy .... 



Under the. Auspices 

OF THE, 

KnigHts of Coltimbtis 



Delivered at the Grand Opera House 
Broad and Montgomery Avenue 
On Sunday, September 13. 1903 



PRESS OF 

BRADLEY BROTHERS 

200 S. TENTH ST. 



\jb)L-A>-r\ . 



ADDRESS 
JOHN BARRY 

Father of the American Navy 
BY 

MICHAEL J. RYAN, ESQ. 

of Philadelphia. 



In this, the city of his home and his grave, we have met, 
upon the one hundredth anniversary of his death, to honor the 
memory of Commodore John Barry. 

We assemble under the auspices of that Organization of 
Catholics who find in the illustrious Genoese the most striking 
example of indomitable energy and majesty of purpose, and it 
is signally appropriate that the bearers of the name of the great 
Navigator, who, steering through unknown seas, tore away 
the veil that hid this mighty Continent, and planting the Cross 
of Redemption, dedicated the land to the Virgin Mother, should 
commemorate that other Catholic who here found "theatre for 
his deeds of high emprize" and deservedly won the title of 
"Father of the American Navy." 

So magnificent were the achievements of John Barry, and 
so varied were his fields of enterprise, that it is difficult, as 
Shakespeare phrases it, "to turn the accomplishments of many 
years into an hour-glass." Their simple recital carries with 
them their own persuasive argument and of themselves would be 
complete answer to the organized ignorance which, under cover 
of the name of initialed organizations, often assails us, 



We glory in the dauntless courage, unswerving loyalty, 
and heroic devotion of Sheridan, Rosecrans, Meagher, Shields, 
Mulligan, Corcoran and the thousands who fought and died 
from Sumpter to Appomatox that the Union might be pre- 
served, but we may also summon to our array those mighty 
figures of the past — Moylan, Pulaski, Dillon, Rochambeau, 
Lafayette and Barry, without whose aid Liberty's battle was ab- 
solutely hopeless. These names are but types of the men of our 
faith who have ever borne unfaltering allegiance to our Country, 
but we single Barry out because of the day we celebrate and that 
he was the foremost Naval hero of the Revolution. As to him 
in particular there seems to have been a conspiracy of silence. 



This may largely have been due to ourselves, but there can be 
no question that the school books of the Nation have been 
written by hands none too friendly to his race or creed. 

When the Dewey Arch was built in New York City, fol- 
lowing the victory of Manila, although it was studded with the 
names of the great sea captains, there was no place for the 
mighty master under whom had served and been taught the art 
of war, Decatur, Dale, Murray, Stewart, and those other heroes 
of the seas who had won freedom for our flag upon the oceans. 

This meeting will have accomplished its purpose if there 
shall be revival of his fame of whom our own gifted poetess 
wrote : 

When Barry, the sorely stricken — wounded well nigh to death 
Spake the defiant message, outsounding the cannon's breath. 
And lifting waves that listened to his land, the tidings bore 
Of victory won through the iron will of her wounded Commo- 
dore. 

He was born in the parish of Tacumshane, in the County 
Wexford, Ireland. The exact year is unknown, but that in- 



5 
defatigable delver who has done so much for American Catho- 
lic History, and to whose monumental treasure book, the life 
of Barry, I at the outset of my discourse make grateful recog- 
nition, Martin I. J. Griffin, fixes it as 1745. This Irish parish 
was bounded by two land-locked gulfs, upon both of which it 
is said Barry "plied the oar and set the sail," for from his very 
infancy he "heard the multitudinous laughter of the sea," and 
it called to him and he loved it and followed it, and it gave 
to him power and triumphs. 

The date of his exile from his Island home is shrouded in 
mystery. Then the Anti-Trade and Penal laws were in full 
vigor, education was a crime, the priest was a felon, 

"The clogs were taught alike to run 
Upon the scent of wolf and friar," 

and the cradle of that race that has dowered the world with its 
genius afforded no opportunity to its sons for the exercise of tal- 
ents, ability or ambitions. They fled their native land — some 
to the Continent, where they gave to France her McMahons, to 
Spain her O'Donnells, to Austria her Taafes, to Russia her 
Lacys; and others made rich the Western world and gave to 
Liberty, Wayne, Montgomery, Sullivan, Knox, Hand, Stewart, 
Irvine, Thompson, the Carrolls, and at Mecklenburg, two years 
before the Declaration of Independence, proclaimed that the 
Colonies "were and of right ought to be free and independent." 
Barry probably landed in Philadelphia, for from the very 
birth of the Colony, Pennsylvania had been a favorite home 
of the Irish people. There were many reasons for this partial- 
ity. William Penn, its founder, had lived among the people of 
Ireland, had first become a member of the Society of Friends 
in Cork, and was there imprisoned for expressing his opinions. 
His great secretary, James Logan, whose books formed the 



nucleus of the Philadelphia Library of to-day, and the Surveyor 
General of the Province, Thomas Holmes, appointed by Penn 
in 1682, were both Irishmen. The soil of Pennsylvania was 
more fertile than New England, the climate was less bleak, the 
government was more humane, and the administration of the 
laws more stable and gentle than in any of the sister colonies. 
Freedom of conscience and worship were preserved to every 
man, and we Catholics should ever hold the Founder in grateful 
remembrance. To the charge that the Mass was openly cele- 
brated and that he was a Roman Catholic, Penn wrote: "If 
the asserting of an impartial liberty of conscience, if doing to 
others as we would be done by, and an open avowing and steady 
practicing of these things at all times and to all parties will 
justly lay a man under the reflection of being a Jesuit or a 
Papist of any rank, I must not only submit to the character, but 
embrace it." 

The tide flowed toward Philadelphia. The Crown of 
Empire has passed from us to our sister Commonwealth of 
the North, but in the Eighteenth Century our City was the 
Metropolis of the New World. The first authentic record of 
Barrv shows him as "clearing" from this Port in October, 
1766, as Captain of a schooner trading between here and the 
Barbadoes. In 1769 we find that he was elected a member of 
the "Society for the relief of poor and distressed Masters of 
Ships," and the various advertisements and registers that have 
been preserved show him in pursuit of his honorable calling, 
rising to the command of vessels of increasing size until on 
December 27, 1774, he was made Captain of the "Black Prince," 
owned by John Nixon, but chartered by and in the service of 
Barry's employers, the foremost traders in North America, 
Morris, and Willing. 

This John Nixon was the grandson of Richard Nixon, a 
Catholic, who came to Philadelphia from Ireland in 1686, and 



7 

it was he who first read to the people of America in the State 
House yard on July 8, 1776, the immortal Declaration of In- 
dependence. 

It is curious the kinship that the Irish have had with this 
great pronouncement of human rights. The only man who 
signed his residence with his name was he who had most to 
lose, the Catholic, Carroll, of Carrollton. The document itself 
is in the handwriting of him whom Franklin styled "the' soul 
of Congress," the learned secretary, Charles Thompson, a native 
of County Donegal, Ireland, and it was first issued to the world 
by the publisher of the first daily newspaper printed in America, 
John Dunlap, a native of Tyrone, Ireland. 

While away upon his cruise to London in the "Black 
Prince" "the embattled farmers had fired the shot that echoed 
round the world," and upon his return to Philadelphia on 
October 13, 1775, Barry found the country aflame. On that 
very day the Continental Congress had resolved to fit out two 
armored cruisers — one of fourteen and the other of ten guns, 
with authority to capture vessels bringing supplies to the 
British Army. 

By resolution of Congress the fortunes of the Infant Navy 
were entrusted to the Marine Cortimitte, and they purchased 
two ships which they called the "Lexington" and the "Reprisal." 
These names then required no explanation. The former was 
in memory of the first battle of the Revolution, and the latter 
carried in its title a message to our enemies upon the seas. 

To the command of the former and larger, Barry was 
assigned. Bailey's "American Naval Biography" says : "At 
that interesting crisis, when Great Britain brought her veteran 
armies and powerful navies to coerce a compliance with her un- 
just demands, and when all but men struggling for their liberty 
would have deemed resistance folly, it became important to 
select officers whose valor and discretion, whose experience and 



skill could give the utmost efficiency to our insignificant means 
of defense and annoyance. The rare union in Commodore Barry 
of all these qualities recommended him to the notice of Con- 
gress, and he was honored by that body with one of the first 
naval commissions." 

Barry's commission as Captain indeed was the very first 
issued by the Marine Committee. It was dated December 7, 
1775, and on the same day John Paul Jones, the great sea 
fighter, was commissioned as Lieutenant of the "Alfred," which 
was the new name given to Barry's old "Black Prince," after its 
purchase by the Colonies. 

The formal organization of the Colonial Navy dated, how- 
ever, from December 22, 1775, when Esek Hopkins, of Rhode 
Island, was appointed Commander-in-Chief. The "Alfred" 
was his flagship, but the fact remains that Barry was the first 
officer appointed to the command of the first vessel purchased. 

Of Barry it was said that when he entered the service of 
the Colonies that "he gave up the command of the finest ship 
and left the best employment in America." Several years after- 
wards, Jones, in complaining of the assignment of rank of the 
various commanders (he being made 18th and Barry 7th in the 
list) wrote that "when the Navy was established some gentlemen 
declined to embark in the expedition because they did not 
choose to be hanged, and it is certain that at first the hazard was 
very great." 

Through Barry's veins ran the blood of that race that recks 
no hazard when duty points the way, and fears no scaffolds 
when liberty is the prize ; and perhaps, like many another exile, 
he saw compensation for worldly loss in the vanquishing of the 
foe of his Mother land. 

With the "Lexington" Barry put to sea, and in Prebles' 
"Origin of the Flag" it is declared that his "was the first Vessel 
that bore the Continental Flag to victory on the ocean." His 



9 
prize, the "Edward," he brought on April n, 1776, into the 
Port of Philadelphia, giving pride and encouragement to the 
patriots, and John Adams wrote, "We begin to make some 
little figure in the Navy way." 

Barry during the next few months remained in and about 
the Delaware and its capes. Robert Morris, his old employer, 
the "Financier of the Revolution," was the active spirit of the 
Marine Committee. Under his direction Barry was to "assist 
in taking, sinking and destroying the enemy," and the contem- 
porary opinion of him and his success may be gauged from the 
report of Henry Fisher to the Committee of Safety of Penn- 
sylvania : "Last evening," he writes, "the Kingfisher" (British 
Man of War) "returned into our road with a prize brigantine, 
Captain Walker, of Wilmington, but, luckily for us, before the 
pirate boarded her, our brave Captain Barry had been on board 
of her and taken out the powder and arms." 

Caesar Rodney, one of the signers of the Declaration, wrote 
on August 3, 1776: "Yesterday came to town an armed vessel 
taken by Captain Barry at sea ;" and Josiah Bartlett, another 
signer writing to John Langdon, of New Hampshire, said: 
"Captain Barry in the "Lexington" has taken and sent in here a 
privateer of six gun carriage guns commanded by another of 
those famous Goodriches, of Virginia." 

These captures and like achievements of the Infant Navy 
thrilled the patriots to new endeavor. They indeed needed en- 
couragement, for these months were, as Paine's historic phrase 
describes them, "the times that tried men's souls." 

In the security of our primacy, with dominions stretching 
beyond the oceans, in the plentitude of wealth unparalleled, 
with luxury whose magnificance surpasses the barbaric splen- 
dors of the "farther Ind," we forget that but a little more than 
a century marks the span between our greatness and a handful 
of people, "stretched along the seacoast," whose western boun- 



IO 

claries were the Alleghenies — poor in all save courage and faith 
in God. In protest against the Tyranny that had "ravaged their 
coasts, plundered their towns and destroyed the lives of their 
people," they had risen in revolt. Yet their action was by no 
means unanimous. New York, during practically all the period 
of the Revolution, never passed from out the possession of the 
British. Philadelphia was a centre of Tory treason, and its 
wealth and fashion welcomed the British occupancy with 
revelry and merrymaking. The places that we regard as among 
the most sacred in our history, and the sacrifices that rank the 
Colonists as first among the martyrs of liberty were then 
things of contempt. Of the blood-stained snows of Valley 
Forge, the Royal Gazette, in May. 1778, said: ''Intelligence 
has been received that Mr. Washington and his tattered re- 
tinue have abandoned their mud-holes and were on the march 
to Germantown." In 1778 the French Minister, Gerard, wrote 
to his superiors that "not more than one-fourth of the people 
supported the new government." 

There were periods of acute depression, and the winter 
following the Declaration was one of agony. Even the great 
Washington then sounded the note of despair. "In ten days," 
he wrote, "this army will have ceased to exist. We are at the 
end of our tether." From New York across New Jersey he 
was retreating from Cornwallis. So confident was the latter 
of victory that, writing of Washington, he said : "At last the 
old fox is in a trap." Terror reigned in Philadelphia. Faithful 
among the faithless, Barry organized a company of volunteers 
and went to Washington's aid, and on the gloomy Christmas 
eve, 1776, he rendered valiant service in transporting the 
Continental Army across the ice-blocked Delaware, and served 
with honor and distinction in the victories of Trenton and 
Princeton that again gave heart to the despairing patriots and 
drove the English back to New York. 



1 1 

In reply to Cornwallis' request for the conveyance of relief 
to the wounded, Washington gave a signal mark of his confi- 
dence in Barry by sending him as his representative to secure 
the safe conduct of baggage, surgeons and medicines ; and 
when that work was completed, he resumed his position as 
senior commander of the Port of Philadelphia, and with his 
new vessel, the "Effingham," defending it from British in- 
vasion by sea and harassing and capturing their vessels of war 
and merchantmen. Of this character of service Franklin wrote : 
"Nothing will give us greater weight and importance in the 
eyes of the Commercial States than a conviction that we can 
annoy on- occasion their trade and carry our prizes into safe 
harbors." 

Unsuccessful in their invasion from the North, the British 
forces sailed to the Chesapeake, and following the battle of 
Brandywine entered Philadelphia. During the entire period of 
their occupancy, both from above and below the City, Barry 
gave to them annoyance. It was he who devised the plan of 
filling kegs with gunpowder and sending them down from 
Bordentown to spread consternation by exploding against the 
warships and firing the wharves of the city. The "Battle of 
the Kegs" has passed into poetry, and the terror with which the 
floating arsenals inspired the invaders was long a fruitful cause 
of mirth to the patriots. The British, however, had their re- 
venge upon him, for the "Effingham" was by a land force at 
its moorings destroyed in the upper Delaware. 

Even though without a ship, Barry could not be idle. In 
addition to capturing the vessels of the enemy, it was the aim of 
the Colonials to destroy their forage and provisions. This was 
Barry's occupation while the Patriot Army lay encamped at 
Valley Forge, and as a sample of his success he reported on 
February 26, 1778, to Washington : "According to the orders of 
General Wayne, I have destroyed 400 tons of the enemy's 
forage." 



12 

In Abbott's "Blue Jackets of '76" is recounted the story 
of how Barry, with twenty-seven men in open rowboats, cap- 
tured in the Delaware the British war vessel, the "Alert," of 
ten guns, with four convoys, and took more than one hundred 
and fifty prisoners. Frost's Naval Biography said of this 
achievement that, "for boldness of design and dexterity of 
execution, it was not surpassed, if equaled, during the war." 
Such conduct won for Barry the admiration of friends and foes. 
It is said that Sir William Howe, the Commander-in-Chief of 
the English forces in America, offered him twenty thousand 
guineas and the command of a British frigate if he would desert 
the patriot cause. Barry's reply was : "Not the value and 
command of the whole British fleet can seduce me from the 
cause of my country." Part of the stores captured upon this 
occasion Barry forwarded to Washington at Valley Forge, and 
received from him this reply : "I congratulate you on the suc- 
cess which has crowned your gallantry and address in the 
late attack upon the enemy's ships. Although circumstances 
have prevented you from reaping the full benefit of your con- 
quests, yet there is ample consolation in the degree of glory 
which you have acquired. You will be pleased to accept my 
thanks for the good things which you were so polite as to send 
me, with my wishes that a suitable recompense may always at- 
tend your bravery." 

On June 17, 1778, the British evacuated Philadelphia, and 
all undaunted, the patriots on land and sea renewed the battle 
for freedom. In the following September, Barry was appointed 
by Congress to the command of the "Raleigh." then lying 
in the Port of Boston. Sailing thence he was attacked by a 
superior force, and after fighting bravely to prevent its capture, 
he ran his vessel ashore on Seal Island, off the Massachusetts 
coast. One of Barry's crew, an Englishman, remained on board 
and extinguished the fires which had been lighted to destroy 



13 

the ship, so that she was taken by the enemy. In Watson's 
Annals, the fight is called "A noble and daring defense," and its 
loss in no wise diminished the gallant commander's prestige, for 
we find that shortly thereafter, when Congress proposed the in- 
vasion of Florida, that the supreme command of all the squad- ' 
ron was, by formal resolution, assigned to Barry. This expedi- 
tion, owing to changed political conditions, never set sail, and 
Barry for a time became commander of the privateer "Dela- 
ware," of twelve guns and sixty men, and so remained winning 
new glories for the flag until in November, 1780, he was ap- 
pointed commander of the frigate "Alliance," then lying in 
Boston Harbor. 

The "Alliance" was the best ship ever owned by the Con- 
tinental Congress, and was the favorite of the Navy and the 
Nation during all the period of the Revolution. She was so 
named in honor of and in proof of the unity existing between 
France and America ; and in Watson's Annals it is recorded that 
she "was the only one of our first Navy of the class of frigates 
which was so successful as to escape capture or destruction dur- 
ing the war. In the year 1781 she and the "Deane" were the 
only two of our former frigates then left to our service. She 
was in many engagements and always victorious. She was a 
fortunate ship, was a remarkably fast sailer and could always 
choose her combat. She could either fight or run away, always 
beating her adversary by fight or flight." John Adams, in one 
of his letters, states that "One of the most experienced, best 
read and most scientific commanders in Europe, speaking of the 
"Alliance," says: "The frigate in which you came here is equal v 
to any in Europe. I have examined her, and I assure you that 
there is not in the King's service nor in the English Navy a 
frigate more perfect and complete in materials or workman- 
ship." Barry's selection to command this ship was a conspicu- 



'4 

ous and honorable testimonial to his merit, abilities and serv- 
ices. 

In 1780 things in America were in a very deplorable state. 
The people were tired of the war, Continental money was with- 
out value, the credit of Congress was almost entirely gone, and 
the fortunes of the Colonists were at the lowest ebb. The com- 
mand of the forces, both on land and sea, were given to General 
Washington, who wrote to Franklin : "Our present position 
makes one of two things essential to us : A peace, or the most 
vigorous aid of our allies, particularly in the article of money," 
and Franklin wrote to the French Government : "For effectual 
friendship, for the aid so necessary in the present conjunction, 
we can rely on France alone in the continuance of the King's 
goodness towards us." 

To secure further aid from France the "Alliance" was 
ordered to convey thither our special commissioner, Colonel 
John Laurens. His father, who had also been an envoy, had 
been captured and was a prisoner in London, and great pre- 
cautions were needed for the safety of our other representa- 
tive. Accompanying Laurens as passengers upon the "Alliance" 
in Barry's care, were Thomas Paine and the Count De Noailles, 
the brother-in-law of Lafayette. Barry safely landed his 
passengers in France, and Laurens succeeded in securing from 
the King a gift of six million livres. It was this money 
that enabled Washington to pay his army and transport it 
to Yorktown, for the soldiers had absolutely refused to continue 
in service unless given at least one month's pay in specie. Not 
only were the soldiers without money, but they were absolutely 
destitute of supplies, as the paper money issued by Congress 
was practically worthless. In addition to paying the wages of 
the soldiers this French money bought them food, clothing and 
munitions of war, and enabled Washington to compel the sur- 
render of Cornwallis. 



15 

On March 29, 1781, the "Alliance" left for America and, 
after sixty-nine days, arrived on June sixth in Boston harbor. 
It was on this voyage that Barry fought and won, although 
severely wounded, one of the fiercest naval battles of our his- 
tory — the capture of the "Atalanta" and the "Trepassey." 

"Next right against us steering 

Came a saucy "seventy- four," 
In all her pride careering 

To thrash the Commodore ; 
But each gunner plied his rammer 

And a ringing broadside poured 
And we brought the British banner 

And the mainmast to the board." 

On September 21, 1781, Barry was placed by Washington 
in command of the whole Navy of the Colonies, and he so re- 
mained until the Independence of the United States was ac- 
knowledged. Robert Morris, chief of the Department of 
Finance, wrote : "I do not fix your cruising ground because I 
expect you will know the most likely cruise and will be anxious 
to meet such events as will do honor to the American flag and 
promote the general interests." 

On October 19, 1781, part of the British forces had sur- 
rendered in Virginia, and instead of being sent to destroy the 
vessels of the enemy, Barry was again entrusted with the safe 
delivery of another envoy to France, her own distinguished son, 
the Marquis de Lafayette. Morris, in concluding another letter 
of instructions to Barry, said : "I know your sense of duty and 
patriotism will lead you into all proper measures and exertions 
for the safety of your ship, for the success of her voyage and 
crew, and for the promotion of your country's interests." The 
importance of Lafayette's mission to France was deemed by 



16 

Washington to be greater than any service he could render upon 
the field in America, and it may be estimated from the great 
commander's letter to him of November 15, 1781 : "Respecting 
the operations of the next campaign I declare in one word that 
the advantages of it to America and the honor and glory of it to 
the allied armies in these States must depend absolutely upon 
the naval force which is employed in these seas at the time of 
its appearance next year. No land force can act decisively unless 
it is accompanied by a marine superiority, nor can more than 
negative advantages be accepted without it. It follows, then, 
as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive 
naval force we can do nothing definite, and with it, everything 
honorable and glorious. A constant naval superiority would 
terminate the war speedily. Without it, I do not know that it 
will ever be terminated honorably." 

Scanty recognition has been given at best to the magnificent 
aid of the sailors of the colonies in the war for Independence. 
Then, as now, England's bulwark was her fleets. Her sea 
forces had been increased until in 1781 there were enlisted in the 
Royal Navy 100.000 men. During the war we had captured 
over 800 vessels, of which more than one hundred were war 
ships. Barry's prizes from one voyage alone brought 
into French Ports and there sold amounted to more 
than £562,000. It was these and like losses, touching the pockets 
of British traders, that struck terror to them and caused the 
merchants of Oreat Britain to petition the Government for 
peace. 

With the wisdom that in the light of history seems to have 
been more than human, Washington demanded "Naval superi- 
ority." Time and again since then his demands have been 
justified. Perry on Lake Erie and McDonough on Lake 
Champlain won security and forced a peace before Jackson 
overwhelmed Packenham at New Orleans. In the Civil War 



17 

the defeat of the Merrimac, the destruction of the Alabama, 
and Farragut lashed to the mast of the Hartford winning vic- 
tory, were as effective in preserving the Union as the battles 
upon the land. And in the recent war the achievements of our 
fleets in Cuban oceans and under Dewey in Manila Bay thrilled 
to the heart's core the American people, and are compelling 
them to recognize in our sailors the chief buttress of the nation 
destined to be Mistress of the Seas. 

To procure the ships, the men, and the money "to ter- 
minate," as he expressed it, "the war speedily," Washington and 
Congress sent the Catholic Lafayette to Catholic France in the 
best vessel of the Government, commanded by the Chief of the 
Navy— the Catholic Barry, and so successful was the great 
Frenchman's mission that the British Government, despairing of 
success, on November 30, 1782, signed provisional terms of 
peace, recognizing the Freedom of the Colonies. It was not, 
however, until April 11, 1783, that Congress issued its procla- 
mation declaring "the cessation of arms as well by sea as by 
land." There was then no system of wireless telegraphy, and 
Barry, who had sailed from France, was away upon one of his 
cruises when in March, 1783, while convoying from Havana 
the French treasure ship, "The Due de Lauzan," he had the 
honor to fight the lasLhaJtle of the Revolution, when he whip- 
ped the British frigate "La Sybilla." To our old hero's credit, 
therefore is : 

I. Acceptance in the days when it was "risk and hazard to 
be hanged" of the first commission as Captain of the 
first vessel owned by America. 
II. The capture of the first British vessel brought as a prize 
into the capitol of the Nation. 
III. The fighting and winning of the last battle of the Revo- 
lution ; and 



\y 



IV. The supreme command by order of Washington and the 
Continental Congress of the entire Navy of the Colo- 
nies at the most critical period in our history and its 
glorious retention until all the world gave welcome to 
our Starry Banner into the Sisterhood of Independent 
Nations. 

Notwithstanding its history, the "Alliance" at the close of 
the War was ordered to be sold, and on the first Tuesday of 
August, 1788, the grand old ship was disposed of at public 
sale at the Merchants' Coffee House, Philadelphia. She passed 
into useful and honorable service as a merchantman, and after 
some few voyages to the China Seas, found a grave in the mud 
of Petty's Island. Some few ribs from her frame of oak still 
exist, but the old hull was completely destroyed about five years 
ago by the American Dredging Company, when the river islands 
were removed. Thomas Buchanan Reid, the Poet, presented 
President Lincoln with a piece of the wood of the old fighter, 
telling him that "her log book records, triumphs and incidents 
as glorious as the achievements of any vessel in the navies of 
the world." We now would suppose that this splendid memo- 
rial would have been jealously guarded, but as the desire to 
preserve Revolutionary relics is of comparatively recent growth, 
we need not marvel at her auction, for let us remember that a 
Pennsylvania Legislature authorized the destruction of Inde- 
pendence Hall and the sale of the Square for building lots, and 
that a mob of ignorant bigots calling themselves "Native Amer- 
icans," when they put their torch of fiery hate to the cross sur- 
mounting the tower of St. Augustine's Church, destroyed the 
clock that had marked the hour for the men who in Indepen- 
dence Hall "pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred 
honors." 

With the acknowledgment of the Independence of the Col- 
onies, Barry returned to private life, and again as Captain in 



i9 

the merchant service, aided in the extension of the trade of 
America. He so continued until summoned in 1794 once more 
to the aid of his Country. The American Navy dates from 
March 27th of that year. Our commerce was threatened not 
only by the Algerine pirates, but by the wars between France 
and England, and it became necessary, as the Act of Congress, 
signed by Washington, declares, "that a naval force should be 
provided for its protection." On June 5, 1794, Henry Knox, 
Secretary of War, issued the following letter addressed to each 
of those named therein: "Sir — The President of the United 
States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, has 
appointed you to be a Captain of one of the ships to be provided 
in pursuance of the act to provide a naval armament herein 
enclosed. It is understood that the relative rank of the Captains 
is to be in the following order : 

" I. John Barry. 

" II. Samuel Nicholson. 

•TIL Silas Talbot. 

"IV. Joshua Barney. 

" V. Richard Dale. 

"VI. Thomas Truxton." 

At that time, and for years after, the senior Captain was 
the commanding officer of the Navy, as it was not until 1862, 
during the Civil War, that the legal rank of Commodore was 
established, but at all times the commander of two or more ves- 
sels had by courtesy been given that title. 

Barry immediately accepted, and the second in rank, Cap- 
tain Nicholson, wrote to him : "Give me leave to congratulate 
you on your honorable appointment to the command of our 
Navy. I make no doubt but it is to your satisfaction and to all 
who wish well to this country." 

Washington's purpose was, as he himself expressed it, 
"to preserve the country in peace if I can and to be prepared 



20 

for war if I cannot," and he named as Commander, giving him 
the first and highest commission of the Navy of the Republic, 
the same old veteran who in the dark days of the Revolution, 
when "Naval superiority was of the utmost importance," had in 
his charge every ship of the Colonies, and who had never failed 
to "acquit himself of his duty in a manner becoming a skillful 
seaman and a brave warrior." In Cooper's History of the 
Navy it is stated "that his appointment met with general appro- 
bation, nor did anything ever occur to give the Government 
reason to regret its selection." 

It was Barry who first proposed the creation of a separate 
department of the Navy, and with rare foresight he also pointed 
out the need for governmental shipyards, and these were after- 
wards acquired. 

The construction of war ships immediately began, and 
on May 10, 1797, the first of the new vessels of the Navy was 
launched at the foot of Washington avenue in the Delaware. It 
was christened the "United States," and Barry, who had super- 
intended its building, was by Washington placed in command. 
In McMaster's History of the American People it is declared : 
"In the long list of splendid vessels which in a hundred combats 
have maintained the honor of our National Flag, the 'United 
States' stands at the head." 

During the difficulties with France, when Washington, 
summoned from his retirement, had again been made Chief of 
the land forces, Barry was in control upon the ocean, and so 
remained directing our fleets, fighting our enemies, and again 
bringing our Envoys to negotiate a peace, until the Treaty with 
France was completed. 

At the Fourth of July celebrations of the period the com- 
mon toast was "To Captain John Barry and his brother officers 
of the Infant Navy of the United States : May their colors fly 
triumphant on the American Seas." 



21 

When upon the advent of Jefferson's administration a re- 
duction of our Naval forces was determined upon, he was one 
of the nine Captains retained, and he remained in the service of 
the Nation, whose Navy was his child, until his death in Phila- 
delphia, on September 13, 1803. 

To name him "Father of the American Navy" is to make 
for him no new claim. 

Within ten years of his death, Mr. Dennie, the Editor of 
the chief literary journal of the period, "The Portfolio," wrote : 
"Captain John Barry may justly be considered the father of our 
Navy. His eminent service during our struggle for Independ- 
ence, the fidelity and ability with which he discharged the duties 
of the important stations which he filled, give him a lasting 
claim upon the gratitude of his country." 

In St. Mary's churchyard, with Thomas Fitzsimmons, the 
Catholic signer of the Constitution, who proposed the first 
Tariff law in the Congress of the United States ; George Meade, 
the grandfather of Meade of Gettysburg, and Matthew Carey, 
the advocate of American industrial supremacy, his grave 
was made, and for epitaph upon his tomb Dr. Benjamin Rush, 
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, whose 
fortune established the vast Ridgway Library on Broad street, 
wrote : 

Let the Patriot, the Soldier and the Christian 
who visits these mansions of the dead 

view this monument with respect. 

Beneath it are interred the remains of 

JOHN BARRY. 

He was born in the County of Wexford, in Ireland, 

But America was the object of his patriotism 

and the theatre of his usefulness. 



22 

In the Revolutionary War, which established the 

Independence of the United States, 

he took an early and active part as a Captain in their 

Navy, and afterwards became Commander-in-Chief. 

He fought often, and once bled in the Cause of Freedom. 

His habits of war did not lessen his 

Virtues as a Man, nor his piety as a Christian. 

He was gentle, kind and just in private life, and was not less 

beloved by his family and friends than by his 

Grateful Country. 

The number and objects of his charities will be 

known only at that time when his dust 

shall be reanimated, and when He who sees in secret 

shall reward openly. 

In the full belief of the doctrines of the Gospel 

he peacefully resigned his soul into the arms of his Redeemer. 

In no class spirit of proud exultation do we proclaim the 
fame of this illustrious commander. We assert that the great- 
ness of the Republic is due to no particular race and no par- 
ticular creed. Even as old Egypt was said to be the fruitful 
offering of the Nile, so our power in the result of the heart 
pourings of the best and noblest of mankind. The soldiers of 
our church dotted hill and valley, lake and river with the names 
of God's heroes, stamping the soil with the seal of Catholicity, 
fronting the Atlantic with St. Augustine and St. Lawrence, 
giving the keys of the Golden Gate to St. Francis and the care 
of the garden spot of the Western coast to the Queen of the An- 
gels. But when, in the Boston Massacre, Crispus Atucks, the 
Negro ; Patrick Carr, the Irishman ; Maverick, and Gray, and 
Caldwell, men of various races, fell, they were like Lafayette 
and Witherspoon and Pulaski and Von Steuben and Barry — 
names written by God's finger to ever remind us that when in 



23 

the fullness of Faith the Patriot Fathers were to stamp upon our 
coins "In God we trust," and blazon on our seal "The many 
in one," they were giving voice to history and to prophecy. 
From the outset, attracted by the rewards that follow industry 
and the glory of living in a land of liberty, came here the ambi- 
tious, the chivalrous, the flower of the earth. In the mysterious 
alchemy of Omnipotence a hundred races have been harmoni- 
ously blended, and there has been evolved, not the Anglo-Saxon, 
but the master of the ages — the American. He has wrought 
with such mighty energy that the annals of men are searched 
in vain for parallels to his prosperity. For him nature seemed 
to have waited to lay bare her secrets and science to unfold her 
mysteries. The lightnings are his chained servitors and the 
winds and the waves are his vassals. His triumphant fleets 
breast every sea, the products of his lands, his looms, his fur- 
naces and his forges find sale in every clime, the earth yields 
him tribute, and the sceptre of Empire has crossed the Atlantic 
from the old world to the new. Yet the history of civilization 
tells us that Republics cultured like Greece, that even now after 
the lapse of two thousand years, sways the intellect of men ; 
like Rome, that from her throne of beauty ruled the world ; like 
Venice, whose sails whitened every sea and for whom the waves 
sang hosannas — all have perished. 

They fell — not from the foes without their border, Persian 
or Goth or Hun or Vandal — factious vote in the Lion's Mouth — 
all would have failed in their early days, but great wealth had 
begotten degraded labor ; false culture, luxuries ; luxuries, licen- 
tiousness and crime; bribery and corruption reigned in high 
places ; public honors were the spoil of the auction block ; civic 
virtue was destroyed, and there existed no virile force to stem 
the onward sweep of the conquerors. 

"From the past gather lesson for the future." What has 
been, mav be. The old Mother Church of Barry, Lafayette, 



24 

Rochambeau, Carroll, Sheridan and Shields — the parent 
and model of Democracy, whose highest office is elective, who 
taught mankind that all the sons of men are children of the 
Common Father, at whose altars White, Black, Brown or 
Yellow kneel as equals — freighted with the wisdom of the 
ages, still points toward God. And on this memorial night, 
worshiping wheresoever we may, we can all join in the prayer 
of the eloquent poet — Bishop of Peoria : 

And thou, oh God, of whom we hold 

Our Country and our freedom fair, 
Within Thy tender love enfold 

This land ; for all Thy people care. 
Uplift our hearts above our fortunes high, 

Let not the good we have make us forget 
The better things that in Thy Heavens lie ! 

Keep still, amid the fever and the fret 
Of all this eager life our thoughts on Thee, 

The hope, the strength, the God of all the free. 



